Microsoft and Adobe considering merger?

The NY Times learned that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen had a secret meeting on how the companies could team up to battle Apple. According to the paper, a possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft was among the discussed options:

The meeting, which lasted more than an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could team up in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

...

Another person with knowledge of the talks explained that Microsoft had courted Adobe several years ago. But the deal never moved past informal talks as Microsoft feared that the Justice Department would most likely block the acquisition on antitrust grounds.
This person noted that at the time, Microsoft was the dominant force in technology and Google and Apple were not the giants they are today.

This would be a career change for Adobe that's for sure. Adobe seems to still be in the 80's where they will go months without ever issuing patches for critical flaws. Zero day issues get a response of "we'll fix it in a month or two". And they still charge $500 for a single product compared with MS offering 5x that for the same price.

Adobe would get leaned up fast. Flaws have to be responded to in days, not weeks or months. Products have to be updated every other year and cost $150 for top end products, not $500.

Sure hope MS doesn't pay alot because after they trim the waste there won't be a whole lot left of Adobe that is lean and good for consumption.